Biography

Dr. Hall is interested in the intersection between nutritional and environmental epidemiology. Her current research focuses on how nutritional factors may modify the health effects of environmental exposures. She is currently applying this paradigm to study nutritional influences on arsenic detoxification in Bangladesh, where there is widespread exposure to arsenic through drinking water. Dr. Hall collaborates with the multidisciplinary Columbia University Superfund Research Program to investigate how several nutrients interact to influence the methylation of both arsenic and genomic DNA. Using both observational and intervention studies, the overall goal of her research is to identify low-risk, low-cost nutritional interventions for the reduction of adverse health effects associated with environmental exposures. Dr. Hall also currently teaches Epidemiology III and co-teaches a course on Nutritional Epidemiology.

Honors & Awards

Select Global Activities

Nutrients Involved in One-carbon Metabolism and the Methylation of Arsenic and DNA, Bangladesh: Chronic exposure to arsenic via contaminated drinking water is a worldwide problem associated with multiple adverse health effects. Metabolism of inorganic arsenic, which facilitates urinary excretion, relies on nutrient-dependent one-carbon metabolism and involves two methylation steps. Methylation of DNA is an epigenetic modification that plays important roles in the regulation of gene expression and may play a role in the underlying mechanism of arsenic-induced carcinogenesis. The overall purpose of this research is to investigate how several nutrients involved in one-carbon metabolism interact to influence arsenic and genomic DNA methylation.

B Vitamin Deficiencies, Arsenic, and Cognitive Function in Bangladeshi Adolescents: The overall goal of this study is to test the hypothesis that suboptimal status of two nutrients, vitamin B12 and folate, and/or high plasma total homocysteine concentrations, either independently or in combination with arsenic exposure, are associated with impairments in cognitive function in 15-17 year-old Bangladeshi adolescents.